Mail-elevator.



A. D. AROHIBALD.

MAIL ELEVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MT. 26, 1906.

Patented Apr. 4, 1911.

worm uma w amen. WILHELMS conihw N TED STATES ALBA .2- ARCHIBALP, or 'dcvm oit mm mnirnun nnnvaron. 5

Specification of Iletters rathtl 1,

' ncafimand October as, race. sen ng. 340, 53..

To all whom;i-.tmay concern:-

Be itknown, that I, ALBA Dz- Ancnraanp,

a citizen of the United States, an d residing iniCovington, Kenton county, State'oi-Kem tacky, have invented a certain new anduseful ltlail-Elevator.;.and I do declare the following to'bea clear, full, and exact description thereof,-attention being called to the.

accompanying drawing, with the reference characters marked thereon, which forms also. apart of this Specification;

This invention relates tonieansfor elevating mail-matter, to be delivered to. the

various stories of a building, particularly of an apartment building. i 3

The object is to limit delivery by the postman to one place, which is thegrou-nd floor,

and from .whence the mail is elevated and delivered. to the various floors above where it may he obtained.

, The invention consists of the means whereby suchelevation isbrought about, the arrangement being such that the mail-matter is properly-fdel'i'veredto the intended fioor'in each case,where' it becomes accessible to the intended parties. I1 4 v In the following specification and particularly pointedout, in the claimsat theend thereofiis folfmdia' full description of the inso vention,ftogether with its operation, arts and construction which, latter is also lllusandipasses throu trated, -,-th'e accompanying drawings," in

re in a verticaL-sectionaliviewi bull shows my invention appliedtofthe 11. Fig-.- 6,.is .an. end-view. of the mail i'eceiversishown in Fig. 5'. Fig. 7, shows Sill-113110131181 form of-suspension.

. n: the] drawing 10, indicates a suitable,

hox shaped receiver, there being one for every upper story of. the building, meaning thereby the stories above the one where" the postman delivers themail. These boxes. are

-suh1divided by partitions 11, to produce compartments 12, there being such a compert nent for each room, flat, or apartment a fl o in a e he e lat e ar arrainged,

four flats being assumed in-this case. Ropes or- .cables13, are provided, secured to and Pa si g o dr m or, Shea s- 24i qulnt on a shaft 15, whicligis-"suppormd at the upper end of-an elevator-well orshaft 16,

which extends through the various stories'of the building. The location of this; elevatorshaft is preferably such that acceestoit may be had from the "hall in each particular t y, p ngs 1 ng pr v ded tor-such purpose in the front-wall oi the"elevator 4 shaft. I The use and operation of the' systemdelivery floor causes the boxes from the variou's floors to appear behind the. opening in the wall thereat as shown in Fig.- 2, He next proceeds to distribute the mail for the various fiat-dwellers, depositing the same in the compartments designated for each and. in the proper box for each particular floor.

He then causes rotation of the sheaves 'so that the cables are wound upon them whereby the various boxes are elevated. The ar- .rangement and construction is such that each box comes to a stop behind the opening in the hall of the proper floor for which it serves-,as shown in Fig. 3,- and in dotted linesin Fig. 2, after whlch they remain sta- --tionary so that each fiat-dweller may obtain his mail. 1 The intention is that these boxes remain in such position until the postman lowers them temporarily at the next delivery, so that itis not necessary to be at the opening when the mail arrives and. the same may be taken out. at any time between deliveries;-

: The'stoppag e/ot the various boxes at various elevations, each at its proper floor, notwithstanding all -of them are operated by :thesame mechanism, may be accomplished in several ways. In the preferred form shown in 1, 2; and 3, the boxes are arranged side by side and each has a cable'and each cable is connected to an individual sheave. These latter are of graduated diameters so that, notwithstanding they are all mounted upon and rotated by the samefshaft, their elevating action is different, and While all boxes move at the same= time and stopv at the same time, those hoisted on the smaller sheaves are not raised so high. Guide-rollers 18, may become necessary in this. case as shown. show the boxes as indicated by 10 arranged In Fig. 4, I.

he follows The mail-man upon" arrival thev l fr loupper box has reached its position opposite its openingin the uppermost story, the en- T one above ithe other and one cable-Wis.v providedat each .oneof their ends. The sheaves tire series of boxes hang suspended in proper relation with reference to the openings in to a stop, there being a door 26, for each box.

The taxes {themselves that .is, within the shaft,.would thus bealways op nt mail-man would require no key for them; In eitherevent however a fiatdweller would have access only'to his particular compart ment and be excluded from all others,

A suitable signal may be provided which operates while the elevators are in motion, to"

preclude possibility of accidents by persons abovethrusti'ng their hands into the well during that time. This signal may'consist of electric lamps 27, one provided near each -'the various stories so as to appear behind l them in proper register. Only' light cables opening 17, and controlled by the same means, (switch) which controls the operation of the motor, so that it acts simultaneously with this latter, both being included in one circuit. A notice with appropriate in or ropesbeing' necessary, the slack when-the *box'es' a're down, will readily take care of itself; Spring-actuated rollers 19, as shown in Figs. 5," and 6,-1'ni ght however be provided on the boxes to which one'end of each of these intermediate cables is secured and the springs of which are wound by the unwindlng' of the ropes when the boxes are raised, and which when released take up the slack.

In another arrangement shown in Fig. 7 the cables 12 one opposite each end of the receivers 10 pass through eye-lugs 20, projecting from their ends." Theopenings of these eye-lugs areof different, graduated diameters, and buttons 21 are provided on the cables oppositely arranged and properly spaced.- The uppermost receiver has the smallest sized eye lugs and is engaged by the smallest button on the cables, these buttonsbeing merely sufficiently larger to prevent them from passing through these lugs,'

but are free to ass through allothers below. The receiver .elow is raised by the next 4'0 larger buttons and'all as shown in the drawing.

' As motiv e powerfit is. preferable to use a small electric-motor 22, suitably connected to shaft 15, and controlled by a switch 23, 5' located so as to be accessible to the mail-man.

The operation of the motor as to length-of time is preferably controlled automatically by means traveling with the moving parts and acting again upon this switch to throw it out of contact when the boxes have arrived inproper position. .The lower boxfor instancemay be used for such purpose acting upon the switch by means of a rod '24, slidably supported. A lockable door 25, is

preferably provided at the lower fioor,,ac-

cessible only to the mail-man, and which may also control access to the switch. Compartments 12,-may each have also a lockable door, the keys thereto being held by the '60 corresponding flat-dw'ellers. The postman would have a masterkey controlling all of them. Another and perhaps preferable way would be to. have the boxes without doors and to provide the doors for them within e5 openings 17, behind which these boxes come structions would be posted adjacentlyl Suitable guiding means to hold the boxes to their proper positions, particularly while in motion, are provided. They may consist of wires 28, stretched taut and on which the boxes move up and down, being held thereto by eye-lugs 29. The elevator-shaft may be an independent shaft built upagainst the walls or recessed into the same. The outfit may obviously be also used by the dwellers for thepurpose of sending their mail out, which they deposit in these boxes before they are lowered. The outfit may of course be also used in connection with other matter: which is to be elevated and distributed similar to mail-matter.

H'avin described my invention, I claim as new:

1. In means for elevating mail, the combination of a series of suitable receivers, ropes or cables on which they are suspended so as to be side by side when each receiver is in its lowest position, sheaves to which the ropes are connected, a shaft on which the sheaves are mounted, and means to rotate the shaft so as to rotate all sheaves simultaneously for nation with the structural parts of a builda ing', of an elevator-well, which extends through the various stories thereof and is provided with openings permitting communication between it and each mail-receiving story, a series of mail-receivers, one for each of "these stories, they being sub-divided into compartmentsto any corresponding subdivision of these stories, there being such a compartment for each subdivided apartment of the story, means to suspend these receivers inthe well, devices to manipulate these suspending-means to move the receivers from a normal, lower position, to one where each receiver is opposite the opening to the story to communication between each recei er and its which it appertains and doors controlling corresponding story, there being a separate door for each compartment in each receiver.

3. In means for elevating mail, thecombination with the structural parts of a building, of an elevator-well which extends through the various stories of the same and is'provided with openings, one opposite each mail receiving story;mail-receivers, means to suspend them in a manner that all occupy a normal, lowest position on the story where they are charged and opposite the opening thereat which is of a size to permit simultaneously access to all-the receivers, and devices to manipulate their suspending means to lift the receivers, each to a position opposite the opening on its particular story which latter openings are of a size limited topermit access only to its particular receiver.

4. In means for elevating mail, the combination with the structural parts of a building, of an elevatorwell which extends through the various stories of the'same and is provided with openings, one opposite each mail-receiving story, mail receivers, means to suspend them in a manner that all occupy a normal, lowest position on the floor where they are charged and opposite the opening thereat which latter is of a size to permit simultai'ieously access to all the receivers, a door for this opening which controls this access to all the receivers, devices to manipulate their suspending means in a manner to lift them from opposite this larger opening,

to a position in which each isopposite the opening on its particular story, which latter openings are 0 a size corresponding to the particular receiver and doors of comple-' mentary size to control access to each receiver after they have been raised to'be opposite theirres ective openings.

' 5. In means or elevating mail, the combination with the structural parts of a building, of an elevator-well which extends through the various stories thereof and which has openingswhereby communication [and devices to operate these suspending means so that the receivers are simultaneo'usly reciprocated within the well and lifted, all simultaneously, from their'lowermost position to one opposite the openings to their respective stories,

In testlmony whereof, I hereunto set my s gnature in the presence of twowitnesses.

ALBA D. ARCHIBALD. Witnesses I C. SPENGEL, A. E, PAINTER. 

